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Baking efficiency: It’s in the (electric) oven!
f2m-bbi-04-24-production-RBS_Electric Oven

Baking efficiency

There is a clear trend for bakeries worldwide to seek a sustainable and efficient energy source. Electric ovens are an emerging favorite on this path, but companies are seeking the flexibility to invest in gas ovens now, with the option to convert to electric in the future.

Although not commonly found on the production floor yet, electric ovens have firmly caught the interest of bakers in Europe and the US, as companies are establishing their roadmap to improving the baking process in response to current – and anticipated – circumstances. In this process, food manufacturers continue to explore new, efficient process options that can also meet the company’s sustainability objectives to reduce their carbon footprints.

Tremaine Hartranft, Vice President of Technical Growth and Strategy at Reading Bakery Systems, underlines: “Having a plan to electrify the baking process to replace natural gas ovens is a priority for all companies that have already established timelines to achieve their net carbon zero goal.” According to the 2015 Paris Accord, “nothing less than a complete transformation of how we produce, consume, and move about” is needed in order to successfully transition to a needed net-zero world. And so far, global commitments made by governments are falling short of the required path to this goal. But, most food producers set even tighter deadlines for themselves to reach net zero, with goals generally ranging between 2023 and 2040. In these circumstances, the question is how can bakeries stick to such drastic plans?

The time for introducing big changes is now: “Typical industrial baking ovens last 30-40 years in production. Food manufacturers must have a plan to either buy an electric oven now or convert their ovens to use electricity in the future. For most food manufacturers, right now, the infrastructure for a fully electrified fleet of ovens does not exist in their factories or from the local power supplier,” Hartranft points out. Electric ovens are, at the moment, still few and far between, in bakeries. However, adoption is in progress, as many companies are planning the
gas-to-electric changeover by testing their products on either electric pilot ovens or converted electric production ovens.

“Electrical energy can heat products in different and more efficient ways than gas, such as
ultrasonic waves, radio frequency, microwave, induction, heat pump and laser technologies. ”

Tremaine Hartranft,
Vice President of Technical Growth and Strategy, Reading Bakery Systems

Technology advances

New developments in oven technology are increasingly becoming available. RBS has proven that electric ovens provide the same baking profile as their gas-fired counterparts, with minimum operator intervention in optimizing the machine’s performance and consistency over baking cycles. RBS recently installed an electric convection oven at their Science & Innovation Center to show customers that the product’s taste, texture, and sensory profile are the same with gas and electric baking.”

The advantage of this transition from gas to electricity-powered ovens is that, ultimately, electric heating technology is simpler than gas heating technology, according to the cracker specialist. Simpler technology also comes with the benefit of requiring less maintenance, since it built with significantly fewer parts, and less operator experience.

RBS now offers Convection, Emithermic and Emithermic XE oven zones with gas or electric heat. They can be installed as gas-fired ovens initially and later converted to electric heat. The transition can be easily made, the company says.

The Emithermic oven zone is configured with radiant and convective heat, and a humidity controlled product zone to optimize baking for biscuits, cookies and bars. RBS recently released a new Emithermic XE zone for baking crackers that mimics the thermal profile of a DGF oven zone. This proprietary oven design builds on the design of the original Emithermic zone with additional controls of top and bottom air temperature, belt return pre-heating and high-intensity radiant heating in the bake chamber. RBS has successfully installed several Emithermic XE ovens to bake sheeted crackers and multi-crisp products,” Hartranft illustrates.

Electricity avenues

In theory, converting electrical energy to heat is more efficient than converting gas to heat. The main issue with electric energy is not a matter of technology, but finance: it costs approximately three times more to produce a kilowatt of heat with electricity compared with natural gas, the specialist estimates. “However, electrical energy can heat products in different and more efficient ways than gas, such as ultrasonic waves, radio frequency, microwave, induction, heat pump and laser technologies,” Hartranft highlights, adding that “Using these technologies, along with electrical resistance heating, can close this cost gap when converting ovens to an electric energy source.”

Gas or electric: the Emithermic XE oven zone

The Emithermic XE for cracker baking is available with the main heat source as gas or electric. Inside the oven, Thermatec high radiant panels, convection baking, and electric radiant elements bake the product, eliminating the need for gas burners. Compared to DGF ovens, the Thermatec panels and radiant burners deliver a more balanced heat to the product, and impart the high radiant energy required to develop the flavor and texture of crackers.